I spent yesterday morning crying, I mean, volunteering at Rotary Happy Feet. A joint production of Mount Pleasant and East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Clubs, Happy Feet gives school shoes and socks to children whose parents could otherwise not afford them.

I cried, because I helped Jonathan. He’s already a heartbreaker, and he’s only four.

As I dug through the shoes at Target, I found only two pairs in his new size: both Marvel Comics superhero light-up affairs. I pulled out his favorite, spangled with Captain America and the Incredible Hulk, and his mother said, “Too big.”

They weren’t too big, Dear Reader. Jonathan had been wearing shoes FOR MONTHS that were three sizes too small.

I’ll never forget Jonathan’s face when he slipped his feet into shoes that didn’t turn his growing feet into a Geisha girl’s. I had to hide in the back of Target to cry.

Life is about making memories. For ourselves. For our loved ones. Even for complete strangers we’ll never see again.

To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis is 99 cents today through October 19 on Kindle.

Want to see what all the fuss is about? Check out TLF’s reviews on the Amazon Kindle link below.

If you’ve loaned your copy of the book to friends, please ask them to download it if they have a Kindle. Or, if you’ve been trying to convince people to give it a read, please let them know they can download it for less than a buck. Thankyouverymuch.

I’m always happy for an excuse to visit Beaufort, South Carolina. The town that was too pretty to burn during the War of Northern Aggression, I mean, the United States Civil War. (Well, because a bunch of Northerners owned the sprawling mansions by the time the Union Army got there.)

I’m glad. Whatever it took to save this treasure, an hour’s drive south of Charleston and an hour and a half from Savannah, GA: Maybe those dang Confederates weren’t too proud to beg.

Perhaps you recognize the sprawling marsh vistas and Spanish moss from the movies. The Big Chill, perhaps? Or Forrest Gump? Beaufort is very cinematic, and that’s another reason why I enjoy any excuse to knock on its front door.

Okay, the real reason?

I’ll take any excuse to drive through the ACE Basin. Nothing but marsh grass and blue sky on either side of the road. Boiled peanuts from a rusted out trailer. And worship at Old Sheldon.

I can never go that way without a little detour to Old Sheldon’s ragged teeth, its heartburned insides, its refusal to kneel to the command of fire and ice.

Thanks to the Sea Island Rotary Club for asking me to speak on Tuesday. For giving me a pass to wallow in all the reasons I’m proud to be a Very Southern Girl.

I’ll be ranting about geekery tomorrow, specifically Internet Geekery and all the recent changes that impact bloggers in the Great Blogosphere. Also, I’ll have another Reader Question video, so please stop by. (And ask more questions. As you’ve seen, I’ll do just about anything for an excuse to make a fool of myself with my iPhone. But not like that US Airways person (do NOT click the link if you’re at work……….seriously……..DON’T………..)